Paradise
by Wolftimber
Summary: AU. The journey to paradise is a costly one. Rated T to be safe.


Hige was a simple wolf, with simple needs. To properly function, all he required was food, water, and rest. Unfortunately, this meant he wasn't exactly suited for long trips that lacked the necessities. It wasn't as if he was asking for much, just a decent meal, and a pit stop. He even resorted to swallowing snow to keep hydrated. He honestly didn't know why his 'pack' was getting so irritated. It's not like he couldn't control his stomach's need for food, nor his muscles that ached from exhaustion. He was just voicing his perfectly understandable reasons to take a break.

"Hige, _shut up_."

"Give me a break Tsume; I just need _food_ it's really not that much to ask."

Toboe cast worried looks at the feuding wolves. "Hige maybe we can rest later, but we really should be getting to Jagara's Keep if we want to save Cheza. The sooner we get there the sooner we can sleep."

Kiba glanced over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of the pack. It _had_ been getting late, and even he himself had been feeling slightly weary. Maybe it was best if they stopped for a while. However there was the matter of getting food… He honestly hadn't seen many animals about, so he didn't really know where they would acquire any. However he knew they wouldn't last much longer with hollow stomachs.

He stopped and looked to at the group. As he suspected they were looking a little worse for wear.

"We can stop here for the night, but I don't know where we could get any food."

Hige shot a smug look at Tsume who looked slightly surprised.

"I thought you were the one who had wanted to get to Jagara's Keep the most Kiba." The gray wolf pointed out.

"I do, but we can't exactly save Cheza in this condition."

Hige looked around, "Where are we going to find food…?"

Tsume growled, "You were complaining all this time about eating yet you don't have the slightest idea about how to get anything to do so?"

"Hey, I'm not great at thinking things through! If you're so great then **you **find us something to eat!"

Toboe sat awkwardly and spoke up, "Arguing isn't going to get us anywhere you guys; maybe we should split up and find something."

"Fine, howl to signal us if you find something. Me and the runt will look over there," Hige announced indicating the direction northeast of them, "and Tsume and Kiba can look over there." He concluded pointing at the direction opposite that.

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Roy looked at the elk carcass in front of him. It certainly had taken a while to track something down, but it was definitely worth it. There was no feeling greater than a full stomach he concluded inwardly. He watched as a golden brown wolf savagely devoured large chunks of the elk like he hadn't eaten in over some millennia. The kid had certainly earned his share of food; after all he _was_the one to deliver the final blow on the dying creature. Not to mention he had become a crucial part of his pack. As alpha male, he didn't regret letting Edward, his brother Alphonse or their friend Winry join the pack. However…

"Hey Bastard, you certainly sat on your lazy ass while **we** took down that elk didn't you? I still don't understand how _you _became the alpha male in this pack. I mean you certainly don't deserve it."

The kid didn't exactly know how to treat leaders with respect. His brother and Winry had adjusted to pack life quite easily, but Ed didn't seem to like bowing to authority. He also seemed unable to call him anything else but 'bastard'.

The large black wolf lazily turned his head to address him, "Well, you seemed itching to finish the thing and anyway I wasn't the one complaining about 'chronic hunger' the entire trip."

A gray wolf walked over to the others, "He's right Ed. You don't have to be so rude; no one else was even that hungry."

"Ugh, why does no one believe me? Winry, I told you, I didn't have much to eat from the last kill. Besides it's not like we're going anywhere!"

"That's a lie and you know it Ed. You inhaled that kill just like you always do. You're just a bottomless pit!"

"At least I'm not a crazy gearhead that has a weird obsession with _human _technology!"

Winry growled, "What was that pipsqueak?"

Roy got up and moved away before Ed exploded like he knew he would.

He registered a "DON'T CALL ME SMALL!" and then what he assumed was Winry tackling the runt. A golden blur raced past him and tried to calm down his friends.

"Winry, Brother, stop fighting!"

Roy chuckled softly slumped down and closed his eyes, where he assume he was a safe distance away from the quarrel. He heard the soft crunches of paws on snow and someone slump down next to him.

"Sir, when do you think we should be moving on?"

"Hawkeye, we **just** got here. We should at least stay the night, if we don't the runt will start complaining again. While I admire your tirelessness I don't think it would be practical to start moving again until we get some rest." He opened his eyes to see his alpha female, her light gray coat shining slightly in the sunlight, sitting next to him.

"I suppose you're right sir, that you for the compliment." She said with a small smile.

A dark brown wolf sat down on Roy's left hand side and exhaled dramatically. "Boss, I'm **so** stuffed, I can barely move."

"Thanks for the update Havoc."

"No problem Boss, anytime." Havoc grinned happily as he collapsed onto the snow.

"You know what I've been dying for? A cigarette, if humans are good for something, it would be for making those."

"Havoc, those things will kill your lungs, you know that?" the black wolf reasoned.

"So? They were really good; I liked 'em."

"Havoc, they really aren't good for you. Didn't you see the humans that were smoking them?" Hawkeye questioned.

"Yea, they didn't look **so** bad." He shot back.

"Fine Havoc, you can get into whatever habits you please." Roy said, clearly disinterested.

"Thanks boss. You're killing me with your enthusiasm."

Roy shrugged and settled down into the snow.

Suddenly Hawkeye shot up, and looked around.

"What's wrong Hawkeye? You smell something?"

"Yeah… It smells like some other wolves…" She said uncertainly.

Roy got up and sniffed the air. "She's right, there's probably another pack nearby."

Havoc's eyes widened. "But sir, last time we came across another pack…"

"Don't bring it up Havoc, I **know **what happened." Roy shot back quickly.

He knew what had happened last time, and he sincerely hoped it would never happen again.

0-o-0-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0

Hige knew they were near food, he could smell it, and his nose had proved reliable before.

"Hige are you **sure**, you know where you're going…?" Toboe asked curiously.

"I told you runt, I know food when I smell it. It's… some kind of meat…." As a wolf that had been spent a lot of his time in a city, he didn't really know the smell of a specific animal. But the smell of meat was always pretty much the same.  
As the neared the area Hige, too caught up in the smell of meat, didn't register the smell of other wolves. However Toboe did, "Hige do you smell that?"

"The meat? Of course runt, how else would I be able to find it?" Hige rolled his eyes at the incompetence of Toboe.

Toboe growled, "**No**, not the meat Hige. There's something else… I think its other wolves."

Hige stopped, "Well runt, then there's all the more reason to go isn't there?"

"But we haven't even met this pack. Do you remember last time; they sold you out and beat Kiba up!"

Hige stopped, "That's true… but this time I'll be more careful." He was too hungry to _care_ about the risks presented by this new pack.

Toboe awkwardly followed him, "Do you think we should howl for Tsume and Kiba? I mean you did say you would if we found food."

Hige waved him off, "Yea, sure whatever you want runt."

Toboe started to howl, then he noticed a large black wolf approaching them.

"…Hello?" He started cautiously.

Hige glanced at the stranger, still in his food daze; he hadn't noticed him until now.

"Oh, isn't that convenient. Hey, do you have any food?"

The stranger cocked his head and looked at them, clearly surprised. "Uh… Yea…"

A light gray female ran up in front of him and looked at the two young wolves like she was determining how hard it would be for her to take them down.

"We just killed an elk a few hours ago… If you need food, you're welcome to eat." She said, clearly cautious of their intentions.

Hige didn't seem to notice though, "Really!? Wow, thank lady!" He said already running past them towards the meal.

The black wolf growled, and caught him by the foot.

Hige tripped and whined, "Ow, why would you do that man?"

"We don't even know your name kid, how do you expect us to trust you?"

Toboe trotted up next to Hige, "My name's Toboe and this is Hige… We've got two other friends that are trying to find food. Do you mind if we call them…?"

The black wolf seemed to put this into consideration and let go of Hige's foot, "Sure kid, call your friends." The light gray wolf looked at them cautiously before setting of in the direction of the kill.

"Um, you haven't told us your names…" Toboe pointed out uncertainly.

"Yea, how do you expect us to trust you?" Hige put in.

The black wolf seemed to smile, "My names Roy, and this is Riza."

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Author's Note

Okay, hopefully that wasn't too bad… This is my first fanfiction so I'm relatively new to writing. Please, no flames though criticism is welcomed.

I tried to base the wolves off of the Wolf's Rain wolves, since obviously real wolves don't welcome other packs willingly. From what I understand they are territorial animals. I tried to make Roy's pack a little more traditional, but obviously in Wolf's Rain wolves have turned into more complex animals so it will definitely be different.

Also, I'm not an expert in wolves by any means, so if there are things you feel are not accurate I will try my best to incorporate them


End file.
